AMMAN —AlGhad— Ahead of the 2018 Budget Bill, which supposedly entails the withdrawal of subsidies on an undisclosed number of commodities, the government has begun deliberation on bread subsidies, which will double the price per kilogramme of bread to JOD0.32, instead of JOD0.16.

Instead, the government is looking into the facilitation of direct cash subsidies to eligible Jordanian households, as opposed to subsidising the Kingdom’s entire produce of bread.

The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Supply, Eng Yaroub Qudah told AlGhad that the government is currently looking into several options and revisiting several subsidies.

Census indidcates that nearly three million foreigners currently benefiting from the subsidies.

Meanwhile, bread subsidies cost the treasury some JOD140 million in 2017.